Texas clean-up as southeast US braces for twisters

Massive tornadoes ripped through the Dallas-Fort Worth area Tuesday, sending 18-wheelers into the air and damaging about 650 homes. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes could hit much of the southeastern United States Wednesday, The Weather Channel warned, as attempts to clear up from the devastating twisters that hit North Texas Tuesday continued.

About 650 homes were damaged in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a preliminary estimate from The Red Cross, after a swath of violent weather passed through the region like a giant wrecking-ball, leaving thousands of people without power.

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Among the hardest cities hit was the southern Dallas suburb of Lancaster, where Mayor Marcus Knight said 300 structures were damaged and 10 people were injured.?

Tornadoes were seen on video tossing semi-trailers into the air with ease.

Mom recounts saving daughters from 'terrifying' tornado
Videos show flying semi-trailors, golf ball-sized hail

The National Weather Service planned to survey the destruction Wednesday before saying exactly how many tornadoes swept through the region.

But early reports gathered by meteorologists indicated that as many as a dozen twisters touched down.

Despite the intensity of the slow-moving storms, no fatalities or serious injuries have been reported, though there were several less serious injuries.

Lisa Rebstock, who hid in her bathroom with her two young daughters when a tornado ripped through their Texas home Tuesday, tell TODAY's Ann Curry it was the "most terrifying thing" she's ever been through.

Tornado threat Wednesday
The Weather Channel published a map showing the danger area for thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes Wednesday that covered much of the southeastern U.S.

The danger zone?stretched from the Texas coast and parts of East Texas to northern Florida, and from Kansas to Virginia.

The Weather Channel outlined an area within that that had the greatest chances of a severe storm Wednesday. That included the cities of Nashville, Memphis, Jackson, Mobile and Lake Charles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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